


Dancing to a Different Tune

by Tarlan



Category: Dead Men Can't Dance (1997)
Genre: Angst, Community: hc_bingo, Gen, Post-Movie(s), Trope Bingo Round 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 08:24:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4472249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events in North Korea, Robert dwells on the trust broken by Shooter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dancing to a Different Tune

**Author's Note:**

> Written for: **michaelbiehn** July 2015 challenge.
> 
> Also meets:  
>  **hc_bingo** prompt: hostages  
>  **trope_bingo** prompt: trust and vows

Robert guessed you really never knew someone, not even a man who'd watched his back for ten years; a man he thought was his friend. Shooter had betrayed everything they believed in; their country, their friends, and though he denied it, Shooter had betrayed him too. Robert had placed his trust in him, and instead he had compromised their mission, leading to Major Kang taking Robert and most of his team hostage.

Only one of them had seemingly escaped capture, and while Robert was kneeling in the mud, lined up ready to be executed, he'd actually been relieved to know his friend wasn't among them. Of course hindsight was a bitch. It wasn't until he overheard Shooter on the satlink that he truly understood why Kang was so determined to find the 'missing person' from Robert's team. Kang had wanted Shooter because he carried the vital component for arming the stolen detonators - the codes - and two of Robert's men had paid the ultimate price for refusing to give up Shooter's whereabouts. Like him they had placed their trust in their team mate, vowing to protect him and the rest of the team at all costs. Robert felt sick knowing they had died for nothing, protecting a traitor, and for that reason alone he could not give Shooter the easy way out.

A fight to the death, moves choreographed almost like a dance as they parried and thrust. He feinted one way, ducked and came in under Shooter's reach but the other man knew him too well and stepped beyond the arc of Robert's blade. He ignored the pain of a slice across his leg, pressing a momentary advantage to slash at Shooter's face. They ended up on the ground, rolling over and over as each tried to get the upper hand, and for a moment Shooter gained it. Perhaps it was the momentary distraction of Victoria's cry but Shooter faltered, and instead it was Robert who delivered the fatal stab, knife sliding between two ribs, straight into the heart.

Shooter's blood was slick on his hand but Robert felt nothing. No deep satisfaction or euphoria, but no remorse either. He felt dead inside, still reeling from the shock of betrayal by his best friend. By the time they cleared Korean air space and were back on the ground they had lost yet another member of Victoria's team. Kang was dead and the detonators were in their possession, so technically the mission was a success, but Robert felt no elation. they had lost too many good people and he had seen the trust he placed in his best friend shattered.

He'd searched for Victoria after his debriefing, finding her alone in her quarters, seated on her bunk with her head buried in her hands. Robert paused on the threshold, silently wondering if she could accept his company after all that had happened. She would be right to blame him for no one was closer to Shooter than him. He should have seen the signs. He should have noticed Shooter dancing to a different tune.

She looked up, offering a wan but welcoming smile so he walked in, closing he door and locking it behind him. Robert sank down onto the bed beside her.

"I should have seen-." He started but she interrupted.

"You were too close. We both were." She reached out to hold his hand. "He made his choice, Robert. He chose to betray your trust - and mine."

Robert leaned in and felt her arms wrap around him, pulling him close. He laid his head against her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her warm skin and letting it soothe away some of the emotional pain from the last few days. They had both learned a vital lesson about misplaced trust. Although it would be easy to make a vow to never trust anyone so implicitly again, Robert knew that would be a bad decision. Putting his trust in another would always be a gamble but compared to the alternative of trusting no one, he knew it was a risk he had to take.

he knew Victoria had learned another vital lesson, one he had tried to teach her before her ill-fated reconnaissance. He recalled telling her that leadership came at a cost. He could recall the name of every man he had lost under his command, and the face of every person he had killed in the line of duty. She carried that same burden now, though he hoped the load was a little lighter for sharing it with him.

Eventually they ended up stretched out on her bed, holding onto each other, drifting in companionable silence as they took comfort in each other's presence. Both of them were on thirty day's leave from tomorrow and he hoped he might convince her to spend those days with him. He'd ask her later, but for now all he wanted was the comfort of her arms as he silently grieved for a man he had once loved as a brother, and for the trust he had broken through greed.

END

 


End file.
